


In the Absence of Sound

by ifdragonscouldtalk



Series: Tumblr Prompts/Drabbles [13]
Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: BAMF Peter Parker, Gen, I don't believe in unhappy endings so no dead people, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Warning for Major Character Death where the character does not stay dead, but be careful if you're sensitive to that stuff, that's a long tag wow alright let's go with that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-24 13:40:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13214919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifdragonscouldtalk/pseuds/ifdragonscouldtalk
Summary: Peter could hear. He could hear more than he thought he could, and he didn't even notice what he was hearing until it was gone. He could hear the heartbeat of the city stop.He could almost feel his own stop too.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Flight_Of_Icarus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flight_Of_Icarus/gifts).



> This idea was not fully mine. It belongs to the wonderfully angsty the-flightoficarus on tumblr. I wrote it, but Ica came up with the idea.

He heard the change immediately, and more acutely than most could. It wasn’t just the fact that the electrical humming of the buildings around him stopped: there’s a thrum in the city, a heartbeat that you don’t notice until it’s gone. He felt it pulse and die; and he knew what it was. 

Mr. Stark’s reactor. 

Mr. Stark had fought hard to wire the clean energy into New York’s electrical grid, and the reactor under Stark Tower powered hundreds (if not thousands) of buildings around the city. It was supposed to last upwards of a hundred years, even with the strain on it, and, along with preventing power surges and being immune to blackouts, be virtually indestructible. 

But somehow it had gone wrong, and it wasn’t running anymore. And all that could mean was something catastrophic. 

Other people couldn’t hear it, not on a conscious level. But they were uncomfortable; they could sense it, turning skittish like an animal in danger. The heartbeat of the city was gone. And everyone knew that a heartbeat lost means death. 

He didn’t bother to take the time to put on his suit, taking off running. MJ and Ned cursed after him in the distance, but his eyes were set on the skyline, the one building visible anywhere in New York City, the one building that he prayed was still abandoned for the compound upstate. So he saw the glint of shattered glass and a glimpse of red streaking towards the ground, gathering momentum, and God, he wished he wasn’t so good at physics, wished equations and biology and chemistry didn’t come so easy to him (because he knew that even the Iron Man suit couldn’t completely survive that, not without something to slow it down, not without the Hulk or the repulsors,  _why wasn’t Mr. Stark flying_ ). 

Employees were streaming out of the building, screaming and injured, first responders not even on the scene yet. He grabbed a woman who looked less shaken than the rest, wild with panic and breathing heavy. “What happened?!” 

“It’s Electro! Electro and Magneto! They attacked the building and destroyed the reactor!” 

He let her go, fighting through the crowd towards the sound of high-whining repulsors, broken and useless. It was a crack in the ground that shook him to the core as he scrambled into the small crater, twisted metal and smoking embers making his nose twitch. Mr. Stark’s mask had been torn away, the reactor in his suit dark and quiet. “ _Mr. Stark!”_

He was alone. The other Avengers, the ones who were still here, were probably at the compound. He could barely handle Electro alone, and now Magneto? And Tony,  _Tony_ , he could hear his breath hissing unevenly between his lips, the front of his suit mangled. “Please,” he cried as he collapsed beside the older man, putting a hand on his cheek and shaking him. “Wake up. Don’t fucking do this, Mr. Stark! The world needs you!  _I_  need you!” 

Tears filled his eyes as he heard Mr. Stark’s heart jump, the arrythmia that had been there since the first time he met the man, the heart failure he thought was being addressed. He shouldn’t have assumed. 

“Oh  _God_ ,” he sobbed as he heard Mr. Stark’s heart stutter, grow weaker. Tears began to stream down his face, his hands shaking. “ _Help!”_ he screamed. “ _Someone come help him!”_

The heartbeat died, and someone laughed. 

Breaths shook him as Tony Stark’s breath stopped. And he couldn’t help but think that the end of one life, sometimes, could be the end of them all.


	2. Chapter 2

There was a subtle change in the pressure of the air, a sense of  _wrongness_  that had everyone stopping for a mere second, like for an instant the Nine Realms had ceased to turn and people had forgotten to breathe. Peter didn’t notice it, shaking to his core, tears dripping ugly off his nose and chin and he clenched his hands around the wrist of the Iron Man armor, dead blood oozing sluggishly from wounds on Tony Stark’s face and painting him in a visage of war, making him nearly unrecognizable. The trickles would stop soon, nothing left to push the blood through the wounds. The laughter run loud and harsh in his ears, crackling, and he felt anger surge through him, his face stained red with it, as he looked up at their enemies. 

Electro was the one laughing, the crazy bastard. He looked distinctly unhinged, his electricity getting away from him. Magneto’s face was carefully blank, his body language tense, like he could feel the  _wrongness_  in the air and had no idea how to fix it. The sounds of the city faded around Peter, his blood rushing in his ears. 

“Fix him,” he whispered as he began to pry the chest plate of the armor open, his voice coming out smaller than intended, the fierceness of it mimicking an animal warning its opponent to back away. “Now. Fix him.” Electro laughed harder. 

“Or  _what_? You’re  _nothing_ , stupid civilian.” Peter didn’t register himself standing up as he realized he still wasn’t wearing the suit. He didn’t care anymore. He grabbed Electro’s wrist, ignoring the way his hair stood on end, the pain, the spasms it sent through his voluntary muscle groups. He set his jaw to keep from clenching down on his tongue. 

“ _Fix him_ ,” he hissed again, his eyes burning with anger and electricity, relishing in the shock on Electro’s face. Magneto stood still, his eyes wide with shock, and Peter looked the man dead in the eye, his face void of emotion save for the tears still running down his cheeks. “And you? Run.” He didn’t know what Magneto saw that convinced him Peter was a threat, but the villain was gone in an instant, Electro crying out after him. Electro still didn’t move, and Peter pulled his fist back and punched him, hard, harder than he’d ever hit anyone, not holding back. Electro would’ve gone flying if not for the grip Peter still had on his wrist; as it was, the older teen staggered, slipping to his knees, dazed and shocked. 

Peter started to pummel him, rage and sorrow building up in him. He didn’t notice the men beginning to gather around Tony Stark’s body, mouths all wide with disbelief, appearing from seemingly nowhere. He didn’t notice the many heros and many more villains loitering at the edges of the crowd, staring at him and Mr. Stark’s prone form in shock, the pressure of  _wrongness_  in the air making it hard to breathe. Tears blinding him, only the panting of his breath, the rhythmic beating of his fists, and the pulse of electricity tenable to him. 

It took him a long time to realize Electro was unconscious beneath him, breaths panting out of him. He looked at his watch, but the electricity had stopped it. He grabbed Electro’s hands. 

Peter ignored, or simply didn’t notice, the men who had gathered around Stark’s body. Some were on their knees, some crying, some white. All were silent. He dragged Electro closer, pushing the chest plate of the armor further away as he began to sob again, choking wails escaping him despite his best efforts. He placed Electro’s hands on either side of Tony Stark’s heart, squeezing them tightly, anger giving way to despair. A man to his left with blond hair and battle armor collapsed to his knees, sobs shaking his form. 

“This isn’t right,” he heard someone mutter, desperation lacing his words. “This isn’t… It’s not supposed to go like this. There’s no one else to-…” 

It wasn’t working. It wasn’t going to work, and Peter had known that in the first place. AED machines didn’t restart hearts, certainly not AED machines that were makeshifted out of a mutant. He kicked Electro hard in the ribs with an angry scream, and thought he heard a crack, before he started pounding on Mr. Stark’s chest. 

“ _It’s not fair_ ,” he screamed to the world, letting his anguish pour out of him in violent actions and screeching words. “It’s not supposed to go like this! God  _fucking_  damn it!” 

The pressure in the air changed, a pulse running through the city, as he slammed both fists into Stark’s heart, feeling a tender rib shatter beneath his fingers. He could hear the arrythmia begin again as Mr. Stark’s heart kickstarted, running wildly as he wheezed in a painful breath, his eyes fluttering open. “Oh God,” Peter gasped, a fresh wave of tears streaming down his face. “Mr. Stark, y-you’re-…” Tony looked up at him, his eyes hazy and disoriented, heart leaping in his chest as he drew in large breaths. 

“Did you kiss me, kid?” he slurred as he looked around, taking in the faces of the gathered group with Peter continued to ignore. “This is becoming way too familiar. How long was I out? I’m fucking lucky, aren’t I?” 

Peter sobbed before collapsing, resting his forehead on Mr. Stark’s shoulder next to the irregularly beating heart, trying to get his own heart under control. 

“You n-need to go to the doctor,” was all he could get out as Mr. Stark let out a groan of pain and raised a hand to pet his hair, humming to him comfortingly. “Please.”


End file.
